Caption for top photo

"Hello Radiolympia. This is direct television from the studios at Alexandra Palace!" *

THESE were the immortal words spoken to camera by Elizabeth Cowell and received at the big Radio show at Olympia, in West London. This was amongst similar test transmissions during August 1936, prior to the beginning of regular broadcasting just a couple of months later, on 2 November 1936.

Alexandra Palace was the birthplace of scheduled public, "high" definition television broadcasting in the UK and arguably, the world.

The American Modern Mechanix magazine of May 1935, described this as, England Will Broadcast First Chain Television Programs, to "Lookers".

BBC Studios A & B are the world's oldest surviving television studios.

YET in 2007, our People’s Palace was to be sold down the river by its very guardians – the Trustee – the London Borough of Haringey. The TV studios were to be destroyed with the connivance of the local council. Here is raw uncensored opinion and information about the scandal of the attempted fire-sale of our Charitable Trust’s asset, for property development. It includes letters sent to local papers, published & unpublished.

AFTER receiving a slap-down from the High Court (2007, October 5), two and a half years went by before the council finally abandoned its 15-year-old policy of "holistic" sale (i.e. lock stock and barrel). Then there was an attempt at partial sale ("up to two-thirds") to a music operator but without governance reform. To tart the place up for a developer, the council blithely sought about a million pounds towards this goal, a further sum of cash to be burnt.

THE local council has proved itself, to everyone's satisfaction, to have been a poor steward and guardian for over 20 years. Now, the master plan (below) developed under the new CEO Duncan Wilson OBE deserves to succeed.

It would be also be a big step forward to have a Trust Board at least partly independent of Haringey Council. 'Outside' experts would be an advantage. They'd likely be more interested, committed, of integrity and offer greater continuity. Bringing independent members onto the board and freeing it from political control would be the best assurance of success, sooner.

2008-07-09

HARINGEY Council intends shifting the Civic Centre up the road to Woodside House. Which leaves the big question of what to do with the old Civic Centre in Wood Green High Road?

This unlovely, uncared-for building needs re-development. Our Council Leader describes the current Civic Centre as “increasingly unfit for current requirements and inefficient, with an escalating maintenance bill.” As for future use, Cllr. Meehan said: “And we can deliver further regeneration benefits by releasing the existing civic centre site for an appropriate development.”

Has the Council considered converting the Civic Centre into a casino? Some councillors argued the case for a casino at Alexandra Palace in 2006, but were thwarted, at least temporarily.

The Council Chamber (renamed Casino Mayorale), would be a grand setting for roulette tables. The game with the highest stakes could be sited under the Mayoral dias, with one-arm bandits located where backbench councillors now sit. The long committee-room wing could house a large number of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs), known colloquially as the crack-cocaine of gambling.

Necessary modifications would include: removal of any clocks; blacking out of windows, plentiful cheap food available on site and lots of lavatories. The big car park at the rear would encourage punters to come from beyond Haringey, enabling our Council to tax the residents of neighbouring Boroughs! Punters could be dropped off at the front porch by taxis and chauffeurs, just like the side entrance of the Ritz casino.

According to the Council report of 2006 Casino proposal at Alexandra Palace, a “Small Casino” would be permitted to have up to 80 category B gaming machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000. But the volume of the Civic Centre would surely be sufficient to house a Large or Regional facility? The report argued strongly for the regeneration benefits of a casino at Alexandra Palace, saying that the impact of a casino at Alexandra Palace “would be of particular benefit to black and minority ethnic communities and socially excluded neighbourhoods,” so what is the Council waiting for? It surely follows that the larger the gambling premises, the greater the regeneration benefit?

The profits to the Council—and possibly to some Councillor supporters—would be huge and would take pressure off CPZ’s and parking fines as a means of lifting Council income (the social and family cost of such a facility is harder to quantify).

There would be no difficulty in obtaining a licence. The Council would apply to itself for a gambling premises licence just as it did with Alexandra Palace (the charitable trust it controls). Any licensing committee Hearing could be arranged to be chaired by one of the councillor casino-advocates, who might then finally get the full casino they want. We can find a precedent for that in the permission the Council gave itself in April for the off-track betting premises licence at Alexandra Palace.

Fortunately, gambling is not linked to crime. (Or at least, that’s what we were told by a solicitor acting for the licence Applicant at that Hearing, the Council-controlled company Alexandra Palace Trading Ltd.).

A Civic Centre Casino would be a fitting use for premises that have seen such gaming in the past and such gambling with the future of the Borough.

The Walklate Reports (Pdf files)

Haringey's own logo

THE lightning flash logo of the London Borough Council (opposite) is based on the radiating signal of the world's first regular 'high definition' (high for 1930s!) public television broadcast on 2 November 1936. The Studios – on whose first transmission the Council's corporate identity is based – were to be destroyed by a property developer with the complicity of Haringey Council. In an apparent effort to diminish the link, recent versions of the 40-year old logo were distorted – in a way described as a looking like a squashed spider. Please see the archived blog post The pride of Haringey

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Early TV studio camera in BBC Studio A

TV equipment is largely hidden from Trust Beneficiaries by the local Council. Access to the public is granted rarely, as a favour. Studio B (John Logie Baird's) is derelict due to neglect by the Trustee (Haringey Council). Disgraced ex-chairman Charles Adje worried about "leaks" by his fellow trustees; he worried less about leaks in the roof

Ally Pally: the photo at the top of the page – the current version (Mk III) from about 1990

Mk II version (above), re-built after fire destroyed Mk I, below. Notice the pyramidical water tanks on the four corner towers. The missing television mast, on the front right tower - and for which AP would become famous, was corrected in 1936! The mast - the first in the world - still stands and is used for radio, mobile phone and emergency services backup

Alexandra Palace: Mk II (above) and Mk. I (below)

The first edifice (above) burnt down in 1873, just 16 days after opening. Rebuilt in less than two years, the Mk II version lasted another 95 years. In 1980, the second edifice came into the control of a single, skint Council. Six months later the Palace suffered another serious fire. During the restoration to the current Mk. III version (top), the Council lost control of re-building costs and dumped a huge bill into our Trust's accounts. Can Ally Pally survive Haringey's 12-year old policy of fire-sale?

(okay, its really an engraving of the 1873 fire). More than £1,000,000 was spent on lawyers and PR alone over the botched sale. Firoka is currently suing our charity for £6,200,000. Will there be an out-of court settlement to avoid further embarrassment?

Alexandra Palace in north London, United Kingdom

The world's first television studios lie hidden between the rose window at the southern end of the Great Hall (middle of picture) and the BBC Tower, under the mast. Haringey Council was prepared to see them demolished by a property developer

TV mast under construction in 1935 or 1936

Picture credit: Jim Lewis

Was £100m worth of property to be sold for £1.5m?

ABOUT £100 million of our taxes have gone into AP over the years and - in different hands - that's probably what it's worth. The Council wanted to sell it to Firoka for a rumoured £1.5 million.

THE reason why the sale was bungled, is the same reason why the Palace has enjoyed such chequered fortunes over the last 30 years. Those handling the sale are the same municipal controllers who’ve had stewardship over that time. Haringey Council have let the place run down, as with other important public buildings they control.

THE difference is that Ally Pally ‘the People’s Palace’, is not a municipal building, but the principal asset of a charitable trust whose beneficiaries are you and me. The charitable objects and constitution are a great obstacle to a sale property developers, as the Council and their favoured business partner (Firoka) discovered.

The Discovery of Television – APTS archive

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EVEN with a ‘successful’ sale – which would have negated the charitable aims – the Trustees would still have been the local council and when (not if) problems arose, the public would still have looked to the Council to sort it out – except the Council would have surrendered all meaningful control. For all practical purposes, the charity would have ceased to exist (which is one of the reasons why the sale was unlawful).

THESaveAllyPally group believes the only long term hope for AP is to transfer control from councillor -Trustees to new, independent Trustees of expertise and long-term interest, integrity and independence.